August 10

Rush Creek to Tuolumne Meadows – 15.5 miles

I’d initially expected to hike solo the entire JMT and had planned to camp away from larger backpack camps like VVR, Red’s Meadow and Tuolumne Meadow, but having enjoyed hiking and camping with friends made along the trail, and experiencing the tremendous camaraderie at Red’s, I targeted Tuolumne Meadows for the day’s destination. Over Donahue Pass early in the morning, and down the last snowfield into Yosemite NP. The pass descends into Lyell Canyon through which the trail is almost flat though descending mildly. And with the trail along the meadows mostly clear of large rocks like much of the rest of the JMT, you can carry a good pace throughout, although the views kept stopping me to take it all in, and record with a view pictures. I never tire of high mountain meadows!

Not surprisingly, as the trail gets closer to Tuolumne Meadows day hikers are more frequent and I found myself jostling past them to keep my preferred steady, faster pace going. Once in Tuolumne Meadows I found that part of the JMT was undergoing construction, so detoured around and found my way to the backpacker camp. It was early afternoon, the the camp was already filling up. I managed to find a site, and set up quickly, then headed to the store and cafe for a late lunch. As with the prior stops, their opening had been delayed, having just opened before Kathy and I drove through just under two weeks prior.

Once refueled, I walked back to my camp and rested a bit. I eventually shared my camp with a couple from Israel who I could tell were a bit late to find a site, and mine had plenty of room. The camp was far larger and more spread out than Red’s Meadow so it didn’t have the same vibe, but there was still a chance to socialize with some fellow hikers, and I even took in the ranger’s evening fireside talk at the main campground amphitheater adjacent to the backpacker camp.